Missing the point

DRINKS mogul Tim Martin (your report, 2 January) perhaps misses the point in decrying government attempts to further regulate liquor licensing, when he compares binge drinking in the streets and at home with "supervised" pubs, "where at least you can't behave too badly".

The main problem relates to what happens when drunks spill out of pubs, with shouting, swearing, vomiting and urinating being merely the tip of an iceberg of crime and disorder, but which, in any case, makes late-night city centres such unpleasant and menacing places for ordinary people.

Perhaps if Mr Martin had the misfortune to live beside a pub or club, he might be forced to reassess his characterisation of the on-sales trade as a "controlled environment".

While it's unusual to see drunks stagger out of or be carried unconscious from off-licences and supermarkets, it's commonplace in the supposedly supervised pub and club sector.

Also, Mr Martin should be aware that a rationale for the Scottish Government's minimum pricing proposal is to make pubs and clubs more attractive vis--vis off-sales outlets, so here, at least, it's not a case of a "mad, stupid" government "trying to ruin pubs".

On the other hand, when councils tried local minimum pricing schemes, elements of the pub trade objected; perhaps Wetherspoons – (in)famous for "99p a pint" promotions – is similarly unenthusiastic.

STUART WINTON

Hilltown

Dundee